There’s rare, and there’s actually rare, and this, I think, is the latter. Yayoi Kusama’s version of her fashion career is almost certainly a fantasy: that in the 1960s she sold a collection of clothing to Bloomingdale’s as part of her overarching artistic mission to cover the universe with polka dots.
What’s real, though, is that she made several pieces of clothing, including for herself. And, it turns out, including for some lady who’s selling her Kusama top at Rago this month:
The garment was commissioned by the husband of the present owner, who asked Kusama if she might make a dress for his wife. The fabric was selected by the dress’s owner, who was fitted personally by Kusama, who did not use a pattern. “The design was entirely [Kusama’s], she recalls, “created while she was deeply absorbed in the process. She asked for little input and never measured or drafted. The painting was done by hand, while we were there. Kusama used bright pink and blue acrylic paint in her recognizable, organic forms.”
It’s actually kind of incredible, as a story and an art object. It’s covered, not with the polka dots Kusama was painting on everyone in 1968, but with her Infinity Net motif, which she’d begun a full decade earlier. It’s also kind of weird, though, because the Infinity Net loops are painted around the neck and hem of the blouse in a decorative way, as if they were lace or embroidery. Which might undercut the Infinity Net concept, while making for a very pretty top.
Fashion-wise, or in terms of what goes on the body, I do think Kusama’s most important model is herself. The way she has systematically photographed herself alongside, in front of, and as a part of her artworks is worth a show, a book, and a PhD. And it’d put some deeper historical context around the art alien obāsan persona that led to her emergence as a global icon.
12 Nov 2025, Lot 159: Yayoi Kusama, Untitled, 1968, est. $30-50,000 [ragoarts]